Falling even further
by Katy-The-Platypus
Summary: Sequel to 'Time well spent'. After two years, Matt and Emily's love has never been stronger, and Ivy is the gem of their life. But an anomaly at a museum may change how they see each other for ever. On Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**Credit goes to Ruthibobs for the idea of this :) I have good plans for this story... ^_^**

"Ivy! Come back here!" Matt yelled, chasing his stark naked daughter through the house. Ivy, now two, loved baths. However, she seemed to have a grudge against them today. Ivy had water dripping from her and 85% of her body was covered in bubbles. Her usually dark brown, wavy hair that reached her shoulders was pinned to her back in straight, black, strands. Her brown eyes were wide with the possibility of getting her dad into trouble. The water was making the floor slippery and Matt had to stretch his hands out every time he had to change direction. He slipped more than once, sliding on the floor and banging into something.

The door to Matt's flat opens and Emily steps in. she has just enough time to put her shopping down before Ivy launches herself and her mother. "Mummy!"

"Hey sweetheart." Emily smiled, kissing Ivy's cheek. "Don't you want a bath?" Ivy shook her head. "Well, I certainly need one." Emily transferred her daughter to one hip, while fishing in a shopping back with her spare hand. She drew out a large, yellow, rubber duck and Ivy squealed, reaching for it. "Ah ah ah! Not unless you get back in the bath."

"But its gone be cold!" Ivy pouted.

"'Going to be' darling. You're bath hasn't 'gone' anywhere. And it's your own fault isn't it." Ivy muttered something that Emily took as a yes. She handed her daughter the duck and set her down on the floor, watching as she skidded back to the bathroom. Matt had watched the whole scene from the sidelines, always amazed at how Emily could get Ivy to do anything. "A mother's touch." Emily told him smirking.

"Oh. So _that's _why you're soaked." Emily glanced down at her know dripping wet cardigan and grinned at Matt.

"I don't see _you _wet. Did you even get her _near _the bath water?"

"Yes! Hence why your wet!" Matt flicked her nose playfully. Emily's nose crinkled as Matt spattered her face with water. "My hands aren't dry though." he grinned at her and she stepped back, her back hitting the edge of the counter. Matt stepped closer, closing the gap. "Come, now. Anyone might think you were _scared _of me."

"What on Earth would give you that idea?" she smiled playfully.

"I would have no idea." Matt grinned in response, closing the gap completely and kissing her. Emily smiled against his lips, winding her arms around his neck.

They jumped apart when there was the sound of something heavy hitting the bathroom floor and Ivy's guilty 'oops' following closely behind. Emily and Matt rushed into the bathroom to find Ivy sat in the bath, the bubble bath bottle laying on the floor. The lid had rolled its way behind the toilet and the bottle was oozing its purple content all over the floor. "Me in trouble?" Ivy asked, sinking below the edge of the bath.

"Yes, Ivy. Yes you are." Emily sighed, not bothering to correct her daughter's poor language. "Out of the bath." she added in a firmer tone and Ivy scrambled out of the bath. Emily wrapped her daughter a towel as Matt stared to clean the floor. "Come on. Before I loose my temper."

"Sorry." Ivy muttered, creeping out of the bathroom and towards her room. Emily opened the door and her bare foot came into contact with a plastic dinosaur.

"God damn it, Ivy!" Emily's temper snapped and her famous 'dark side', as Connor had labelled it, cam out. "Get dressed and pick up your toys!"

"Why?" Ivy gazed up at her mother in wonder.

"Because I said so!" Emily screamed, close to hysterics. "And you do as I say because I am your mother!" Emily backed out of the room, slamming the door.

She stormed across the flat to her and Matt's bedroom, slamming the door and flopping onto the bed so her legs dangled over the edge. She pressed her hands into her eyes, trying to ignore the rumble of Matt's voice. She heard Ivy's door close softly and the sound of Mat's footsteps approach their bedroom door. "Emily?" Matt asked outside their door. Emily didn't reply. Matt pushed open the door, stepping into the room and closing it softly behind him. He crossed the room and Emily felt the bed move as Matt sat down on it.

His hands wrapped themselves around her arms, pulling Emily up to lay her head in Matt's lap. "I just don't know what to do." Emily sighed, keeping her eyes closed. "She just wont listen to me. She'll listen to you, but she question's everything that I say. She's not meant to be like this yet."

"I know. But she loves and trusts you. You're her mother and she respects that."

"Matt, she'd two." Emily pointed out, sitting up.

"I know, but I guess she'd like her mother in that way." Matt smiled. He kissed Emily's forehead as his mobile rang. "Hello? Okay, how long. Thanks, Jess. We'll meet him there. Okay, bye." Matt pushed him self from the bed. "There's an anomaly at a shop, Jess has called the sitter." Emily nodded.

Jayne Gregory was their baby sitter when they had to rush out. She never asked question's, just turned up. There was a knocking at the front door and Emily guessed it was here. "I'll go tell Ivy then." Emily sighed as Matt left to answer the door. "Ivy? Jayne's here." Emily stuck her head round her daughter's bedroom door. The floor was now free of plastic animals and Ivy was dressed.

"Okay." Ivy smiled, running past Emily. She stopped, turning round. "Sorry, mummy." she looked down at the floor, then up at Emily, opening her arms. Emily smiled and picked her up, kissing her cheek.

"I know sweetheart, so am I." Emily headed over to the kitchen where Jayne was making a cup of tea. "She's had her bath this morning so just give her the Spongebob Square Pants box set and she'll be fine."

"Okay, have fun." Jayne smiled, leading Ivy over to the sofa.

Emily nodded, grabbing Matt's hand. The two ran from the flat and into the car. "How far to the shop?"

"Five minute drive."

"Oh, you can guarantee that it's going to be Matalan." Emily sighed, checking the co-ordinates. "Yup."

Matt laughed. "Hm, at least you'll know your way around!" Emily gave him a playful shove, causing him to swerve slightly.

"Keep your mouth shut and we may get there in one piece!"

**Okay guys, what creature do we want to see next chapter? Take your pick!**


	2. Chapter 2

Matt and Emily jumped from the car, running towards Matalan's main entrance. The three soldiers guarding the usually automatic doors pulled them apart to allow the pair entrance. "Becker, where are you?" Matt asked, scanning the shops.

"Um..." Becker seemed reluctant to answer.

"Ladies underwear." Abby replied for him and Matt looked a little uncomfortable. Emily just smirked, dragging Matt off in the direction on the underwear section.

When they arrived, they found Connor staring intently at he anomaly and Becker staring up at the ceiling, both trying not to look at the various items around them. Abby's face was plastered in glee. "Any incursion?" Matt asked.

"None that we know of and the public have been dealt with." Abby smirked as Matt also tried to avoid the racks. There was a crashing from the other end of the store and everyone froze. "Guess we were wrong." Abby muttered. Becker and Matt took off in the direction of the commotion.

"Wait for me!" Connor called after them. Abby and Emily rolled their eyes, heading off after them.

The girls rounded the end on the isle and ran up the shoe isle a few isles down. When they got there, the boys were surrounded.

"Aw!" Emily smiled at the creatures. The boys were surrounded by mid-shin high diictodons. "They're so cute!"

"They're diictodons." Abby explained.

"Oh, Ivy would love them so much." Emily smiled. "How do we get them back through the anomaly?" Emily glanced over at Matt whose trouser leg was being attacked by an adolescent diictodon. He had the sense to not kick it away.

"Well, in the most humiliating way possible for the boys." Abby grinned.

X

"There's one under here!" Emily called out and Connor rounded the corner.

"Where?"

"There." Emily pointed under the dust shelves stacked with skirts. Connor dropped to his knees, sliding under the shelf. A few seconds later and there was a yelp from Connor and four diictodons emerged from under the shelf, running through the anomaly. Connor re-appeared, a graze on his nose.

"Bloody things." he muttered, getting to his feet and dusting himself down.

X

"Becker! There's two up there!" Abby called to the soldier. He jogged over to join her, raising his eyebrows.

"How did they get up there?" he asked, bewildered.

"Don't ask me. Can you get them down?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No." Becker turned and started to walk off.

"A little help, Jess?" Abby muttered.

_Come on, Becker. Get them down?_

"No."

_Please? For me? _Abby could see Becker's resolve cracking.

"Fine." Becker muttered. He started heading back to the shelf. "Hold this." Becker muttered, handing Abby his EMD before climbing the rack. He got to the top of the racks and disappeared from view. A few moments later and there was a strangled scream.

"Uh oh." Abby muttered, running up the isle. She got to a gap in the middle of two shelves with a mirror between them. She slipped past the mirror, heading towards Becker.

_Becker? Oh god, is he okay? _Abby couldn't help but smile. Three years of knowing Becker and she still worried about him.

"Yeah, he's okay." Abby grinned as Becker groaned and rolled over.

"I'm fine Jess."

_Thank goodness. What about the diictodons?_

"Through the anomaly!" Connor yelled.

"Not these two!" Emily yelled. Abby and Becker looked at each other.

"Matt!" they both yelled.

X

"I'm not paid enough for this." Matt muttered. He was crawling around his hand and knees after a set of eleven diictodons. He was chasing them towards the anomaly when it closed. Emily, Abby, Becker and Connor stopped laughing to stare at the single diictodon left behind.

"Oh! Poor thing." Emily sighed, smiling at the little thing. It must've just been old enough to leave it's mother.

"What do we do with him?" Matt asked, scooping the creature up and handing it to Abby. Abby frowned in concentration.

"Didn't you say Ivy would like them?"

X

"Ivy? We're back!" Emily called, opening the door to their flat. There was the pattering of feet and Ivy appeared.

"Mummy! Daddy!"

"Hey Ivy." Matt smiled, setting the animal crate down.

"What's in there?" Ivy asked, pointing to the box.

"We'll show you in a minute. I've just got to pay Jayne." Emily took her daughter's hand, heading over to Jayne. "She was no trouble?"

"Not at all. Good as gold, actually."Jayne smiled, taking the £20 note off Emily. "I'll let myself out." she smiled, heading towards the door.

"Right. The box then?" Emily asked and Ivy nodded excitedly. "Come on then." Emily led her daughter back over to the front door. "Stand here." Emily held her daughter's shoulders and nodded for Matt to open the grating. Matt crouched down and removed the grating. Ivy squealed as the lone diictodon scrambled out of the grating. He stumbled towards Ivy who tried to jump backwards, only hitting Emily's legs. "It's alright baby. He won't hurt you."

"What is it?"

"It's a diictodon." Matt called, nudging it towards Ivy. "You've gotta name him."

"What's a dickodon?"

"Dick-toe-don. And that's one." Emily chuckled.

"What should I call it?"

"Your choice." Ivy's parents waited for her to make up her mind. "Nicky!"

"Nicky?" Matt rose his eyebrows and Emily gave him a warning look.

"It's lovely dear." Emily smiled. "Why don't you go and show 'Nicky' around?" Ivy nodded and scampered off, Nicky in tow. "Bless." Emily smiled.

"We're going to regret this later on." Matt sighed, hugging his wife.

"I know." Emily's eyes drifted over to the kitchen counter. "Hey, Matt? What happened to the photo of Jess and Becker's wedding?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Ivy, honey, have you seen mummy's photo?" Ivy looked up from her picture book, blinking up at her mother.

"Which photo?"

"Aunty and Uncle Becker's wedding photo."

"No." Ivy shook her head, going back to her book.

Emily headed back out to Matt who'd been tearing the flat up looking for it. "Ivy hasn't seen it." Emily sighed.

"I know it was there when we left earlier." Matt muttered and a stupid thought struck Emily.

"You don't suppose Jayne's taken it."

"Why would Jayne want it?" Emily shot Matt a pointed look. "I'll ring anyway." a few minutes later and Matt returned. "She hasn't seen it."

"Well the leprechaun didn't take it."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry. I picked that up from Connor."

"It's fine." Matt smiled, kissing Emily's nose. "I don't mine." he smiled at her. The phone started to blare and Matt reached for it. Ivy beat him to it.

"Can I answer?" Ivy pleased and Matt sighed.

"Of course." Ivy smiled, grabbing the phone from her dad.

"You know we don't let her do that!" Emily protested.

"Hey, hey, hey! Relax! It's Abby." as though on cue Ivy skipped back in.

"Aunty Abby wants us to go round."

X

"Bless her." Abby smiled, gazing at Ivy who was sat on the floor. Icy was flicking through one of Abby's old Next catalogues, cutting out pictures.

"It's a shame she's all on her own though." Jess sighed and Connor smiled at this.

The adults were gathered in Abby and Connor's kitchen. Matt was leaning against the counter, Emily leaning infront of him, Matt's arms wound around her waist. Becker had his left arm around Jess's shoulder, her left hand reaching up to hold his left hand. Abby had her arm around Connor's waist and he had his arm around her waist. "That's why we called." Connor grinned. "My and Abs have some news."

"I'm pregnant!" Abby cried and Jess screamed almost as loud as Abby had. Jess launched herself at Abby. Connor had to step back to avoid being squashed by Jess. Emily joined the group hug, making an Abby sandwich. Becker and Matt ginned, clapping Connor on the back.

"How long?" Becker asked at the same time Jess squealed the same thing. Connor and Abby laughed.

"One month." Abby laughed. "Hey! You know what this means!" everyone turned to look at her but Abby was only looking at Jess. "You're next!" she grinned and Jess blushed.

"Hopefully." Jess mumbled and Becker hugged her.

"I'm going to tell Ivy." Emily smiled, kissing Matt quickly. A few moments later and Ivy streaked through the door. She launched herself at Abby who caught her.

"Hey honey. You excited to meet your cousin."

"Uh hu." Ivy nodded. "It's gonna be a long nine months." Abby laughed.

"It'll fly by sweetheart." Abby smiled.

"Jess," Emily turned to the younger woman. "Tell Lester that next time there's an anomaly alert, I'm bringing Ivy in."

"Is there something wrong with Jayne?" Jess frowned.

"When we left for the anomaly earlier, the photo from your wedding was on the side. When we got back it had gone. I don't know if it's Jayne or not, but I do not want her in the flat." Jess could tell Emily was agitated. Whenever Emily was, her grammar became better and she didn't use slang.

"Sure. I'll take care of it." she smiled.

"Jayne nice." Ivy pouted.

"I know honey." Emily took her off Abby. "But I jut have a feeling about her."

"Your view isn't the only one." Ivy said and Emily froze. The others expected her to reprimand her daughter, but she didn't. Instead, she set her down and left the kitchen. Matt moved to follow but Abby beat him to it. She found Emily on the terrace.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Something just...made me think." Abby could tell Emily didn't want to talk about it.

"Ok. I'm here if you need to talk." Abby laid a hand on her friends shoulder.

"Anomaly alert!" Connor yelled from inside.

"Wow. Two in one day." Abby mused. "C'mon. We'll have to take Ivy with us."

X

Five minutes later and the team pulled up at the museum. Matt and Emily were unhappy at having Ivy with them, but they had no where near enough time to get to the ARC and back and had no babysitter. Ivy was playing happily near the dinosaur stand (ironic or what?) as Connor locked the anomaly. "Did you get the news about Burton?" Matt asked suddenly. Everyone but Connor looked at him expectantly. "His car got hit by a lorry two days ago."

"Unlucky." Abby shrugged. Connor grinned.

"I thought Connor would've told you lot." Matt shot Connor an accusing look.

"I thought you had." the younger man replied.

"As much as I disliked him, it was unfair that he had to die." Matt smiled kissing Emily's head. She didn't believe anyone should have to die. Unless they'd committed one of her top two crimes: Murder and Rape. Although Henry and Patrick/Ethan had never done those, Emily had no problems when they'd died and that struck Matt as dead.

"Well, I'm glad you think so." Everyone froze at the masculine voice behind them. One that shouldn't be there.

**Sorry it took ages to update and that it's short. Exam week's a bummer :(**


	4. Chapter 4

**I've changed the location to the museum mentioned in the description box. This is the beginning of the end. This chapter is also _unbelievably _short :(**

Thee team turned slowly, coming face to face with Burton. Ivy jumped from the stand, barrelling into her mother's legs. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Burton smirked, leaning against the door. He seemed oddly out of character.

"What do you want?" Matt snapped, stepping closer to Emily. "And how are you alive?"

Burton shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Like hell it does!" Becker spat.

"Actually, it doesn't. I'm here with a message for dear Emily." Burton took a step towards Emily and Matt, Becker, Abby and Connor all stepped forwards.

"Get out of here." Abby demanded and Burton smiled.

"Not yet. One thing first. Miss Merchant, sorry, Mrs Anderson?" Burton smirked at her.

"What?" Emily spat.

"About Ivy..."

"What about her?" Matt raised his EMD higher but Burton ignored him.

"What about her?" Emily repeated.

"Don't you think its time to tell your doting husband?"

"Tell him _what?_"

"That Ivy isn't his?" There was a shocked silence around the group as Burton disappeared down the corridor.

"Emily?" Matt's voice was hard as he turned to face her. It was quite clear to Abby and the others that Burton's words had affected him badly.

"Matt." Emily's own voice was pleading. "It isn't true, you know it isn't." she didn't yell, never taking her eyes off Matt.

"Really? Because you seemed bloody worried about it." Matt snarled.

"Matt!" Emily stepped forwards and Ivy tottered over to Abby. "You know that Ivy is your daughter!"

"Well, he would be the second person to tell me Ivy isn't mine!" Matt was reduced to yelling.

"Who else!" Emily yelled back.

"Try the doctor who delivered her!"

Emily looked distraught as she stepped towards Matt, laying a hand on his arm. "Matt, when I married you, I took a vow to tell you the truth. And I haven't broken that vow yet." she said quietly.

"Looks like you just did."


	5. Chapter 5

**Henry Merchant (remove spaces): http:/ images2. /_ _cb201103 29002136/primeval /images/thumb/e/e 5/Henry_Merchant. png/310 px-Henry_Me rchant . png  
**

Emily shook her head, the first tear spilling from her eyes. Matt wrenched his arm from he hand. "In case any of you have forgotten, we have a psychotic ex-boss to deal with." Matt said curtly, stepping away from Emily, not looking at her. He took off down the corridor, leaving the others staring after him.

"Connor, take Ivy to the car." Abby ordered. "Jess, stay here with Emily." Abby ran from the room, Becker, Connor and Ivy following. Once they'd gone, Emily took two steps back so she was leaning against the glass casing of a triceratops exhibit and slid down it. She pulled her knees up to her chest, folding her arms over them and resting her head on her arms. Then she sobbed. Jess slipped down next to her friend. She pulled Emily close, actually scared of her friend. No one had seen Emily break down before.

"It'll be all right Emily." Jess soothed.

"H-h-how can he th-think that?" Emily's voice rose at the end of the question. "Th-there's n-n-no other p-possible op-op-oppor-opportunity for anyone else to be the f-father!"

"It'll be okay, Emily. You and Ivy can come and stay with me and Becker for a while.

X

Twelve minutes later and Emily had stopped crying, although the tear streaks were still stained on her face. Her and Jess headed towards the exit, meeting up with the others as they reached the doors. Abby squeezed Emily's hand and even Becker wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close for a quick hug. Matt ignored her.

When they got outside Ivy ran towards Matt, arms open. "Dada!" she cried happily. She was used to Matt bending down to catch her and pick her up. Instead, he kept walking. Ivy frowned, tears welling up in her eyes;

"Come here, baby." Emily crouched down to her daughter's level, pulling her into a hug. "Daddy doesn't want to talk to us right now." she picked up her daughter, carrying her towards the cars. Matt slammed the door shut on their car and Emily guessed he didn't want to talk to her. But she had no choice. Ivy's car seat was in their car and Emily couldn't be bothered to sort it out. She headed towards their car, Becker joining her.

"You don't mind?"

"I doubt he'd crash, but feel free." Emily smiled weakly, opening the door and strapping Ivy in. Becker got into the back next to her and Emily got into the front. Matt started the engine and Abby caught Emily's eye through the glass and mouthed 'good luck' over to her friend.

"Jess says you're going to stay with us for a while." Becker stated and Emily nodded. "That okay with you Matt?"

"Whatever. Her choice. Not like it could affect me." Becker ignored this, instead turning to Ivy.

"What 'bout you? You wanna come stay with me and Aunty Jess?" Ivy nodded excitedly. "'At a girl." Becker grinned. "You and Mummy are going to be dropped off at my house now by Daddy and then we'll get your stuff later."

X

An hour later and Emily pulled up outside her house. She'd left Jess and Ivy cooking in the kitchen and Becker, after arguing about whether he should go with Emily or not, was watching the telly. Emily unlocked the door, heading across the bottom landing of the flat to the fancy stairs. She walked them slowly, remembering the first time she'd walked these stairs, wondering if this would be the last time.

She reached the top of the stairs and surveyed the flat. She headed to Ivy's room first, grabbing the bear minimal of clothing: fourteen pairs of underwear, seven pairs of socks, three jeans, seven tops and two sleep suits. It was enough for a week at Jess and Becker's. She also grabbed the stuffed teddy from Ivy's cot and her favourite, ironically it was a dinosaur,book from the shelf. She headed across the flat to her room, pulling the draws open. She packed the same amount of clothes for herself, grabbing her small knife from the bottom of her underwear draw. She threw her small box of jewellery into the bag too before zipping it and throwing it onto her back. When she turned, she found Matt leaning on the door frame. They stood standing like that for at least a minute. "Are you going then?" Matt asked, no emotion in his voice.

"Are you going to move so I can?" Emily answered in an equal tone. Matt stepped aside just as Emily pushed past.

She could feel Matt's eyes following her down the stairs and out of the flat to the car. She didn't look back once but once she had rounded the corner in the car, she stopped, pulled over, and let the tears flow.


	6. Chapter 6

That was how Becker found her half an hour later. He'd called Matt's place and Matt had told him, with no emotion, that she'd already left. Becker decided to run the streets looking for her, the car taking too long to get going.

He tapped on her window, making Emily jump. She turned to see him and unlocked the door. "Scoot over." Becker said, taking in her tear-streaked face and slightly red eyes. Emily obeyed him and Becker slipped into the car. "Jess keeps emergency make-up in the glove box." He suggested and Emily nodded her thanks.

Five minutes later and she looked almost as good as new. When they pulled up they found that Jess was waiting in the doorway, worry plastered on her face. "Where was she?" Jess cried in alarm, running towards the car.

"About two minutes from Matt's place. Just around the corner." Becker replied. He and Jess offered a helping hand to Emily but she shook them off. She pulled the bag from the car and headed inside, leaving Becker and Jess outside by the car. "I'm getting worried about her." Becker sighed.

"So am I." Jess replied, heading inside. They found Ivy playing with her stuffed teddy on the carpet and Emily sat on the sofa watching her. "You should get some rest, Em." Jess sighed, even thought it was only six o'clock even she felt tired. "The spare bedrooms down the hall on your right and there's a Moses basket for Ivy." Emily nodded her thanks, scooping up the toddler and disappearing down the corridor.

X

"Emily! You nearly ready?" Jess called down the hall, struggling to get her heels on.

"Coming!" she appeared in the living room, Ivy on one hip. Becker sat on the sofa, lacing up his boots. Jess slipped her bright pink heels on and grabbed the car keys.

"We have seven minutes." she informed them, her eyes resting on the wall clock. "Lets go." she tossed the car keys to Becker and the four headed out the house. Becker had slammed the car into gear a second before Ivy was strapped into the car seat that Becker had happily gone to collect last night.

They made it to the ARC with about thirty five seconds to spare. "Traffic!" Jess shot at Lester, running over to the ADD. How anyone could run in heels that high was a mystery to Emily. Lester just rolled his eyes, retired to his office. Becker headed over to Abby, Connor and Matt who were pouring over a map of recent anomalies. Abby glanced up as Becker whispered something to her. She smiled and headed over to Emily.

"I'm heading to the menagerie so I'll come with you to drop Ivy off." she smiled and Emily nodded.

"Thank you." she waved at Connor, Matt not acknowledging her and followed Abby from the room.

"Here's a tip." Abby said, once they were walking. "_Don't _go back in there until Jess tells you."

"Why do I have the feeling Matt's going to wish he hadn't turned up this morning?" Emily smirked, pushing the door to the nursery open. Emily kissed Ivy's cheek before dispositing her with the carer. The pair headed down the the menagerie, passing several soldier exiting the hub laughing. "Poor Matt!" one tried to stifle his laughter.

"Poor Matt? Poor Becker more like! He'll lose his voice!" another chuckled.

"Not forgetting Miss Parker and Temple." another smirked.

"They'll only loose their voices if they don't loose their jobs first." the first quipped. Abby and Emily stopped, turning to the soldiers.

"What's happening in the hub?" Abby asked.

"Oh, the Captain, Miss Parker and Mr Temple are taking chunks of of Matt." the second laughed.

"Chunks? Carlos, they've practically ripped his ears off!" the third corrected his friend.

"I don't see why." the first soldier spoke up again. "I mean, he's still wearing his wedding ring."

"Smith, I doubt he'd be able to take them off now!" Carlos laughed.

"What are they saying?" the four soldiers turned to face Emily.

"Well Miss Anderson, or Merchant, they're yelling at him because of yesterday. I've never heard the Captain yell that much." the third soldier laughed.

"Trust me when I sat," Carlos added. "Brown and Thompson here have been yelled at plenty of times before." he smirked.

"Carlos, Brown and Smith." the five turned to find Lester looking thoroughly bored. "I'm sure you aren't being payed to stand around here all day." the trio shook their heads, mock saluted and dispersed down the corridor. "I've been sent by Jess to tell you that you need to have a look at the Anomaly Map." Lester drawled.

X

Abby and Emily slipped into the ground surrounding the lab desk. Abby was stood next to Matt, Matt was stood opposite Emily, Jess was on Emily's right and Connor on her left and Becker was stood opposite Connor. "There's no specific pattern as of yet." Connor began. "But it may be there, we just can't see it. For example. When Cutter tried to work out the Matrix, it took him several goes to find any pattern."

"We know what the map should look like." Abby added, "Building it's going to be a problem."

"The Matrix? That was the big, metal model Cutter was building?" Becker glanced over at Connor for confirmation and the older man nodded.

"Maybe we should try plotting the points." everyone turned to look at Emily, the first time Matt had actually looked at her since the previous day. "The coordinates. All maps have an 'X' and 'Y' axis so if we uses these axis to plot into a graph, we may get something. Otherwise it'll completely backfire and just look like a mess."

"Worth a shot." Connor muttered after a few moments of silence. "Um, Emily? Wanna, uh, help?" Emily and Abby laughed at Connor's discomfort about asking for help.

"Sure." Emily rolled up the sheet of paper, handing it to Connor who tucked it under his arm. "When shall we start?"

"Now?" Emily nodded. The pair left the room and Emily didn't notice Matt looking after her.

"Forget it." Abby snapped. "You ditched her, Ivy and your marriage remember? Just be grateful _divorce _hasn't crossed her mind yet." Abby stalked from the room and Jess shot him a 'she's right' look before returning to the ADD.

"You're really going to have to find a way to make it up to her." Becker sighed. "And I think it's going to take more than a box of chocolates and an 'I'm sorry' card."


	7. Chapter 7

Emily tried to focus on what she was doing, but it wasn't working. The graph was taking a ridiculous amount of time to draw and she'd only gotten through the first five points! Sighing she set her pencil down. "This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed causing Connor to look up. "Five hours and we've got nothing."

"We've got something." Connor sighed. "A headache. We'll come back to it tomorrow." he sighed, getting up. "I'm going to find Abby."

This was normally when Emily would reply with 'I'm going to find Matt' but there was a little, make that _huge, _problem with that one. Instead, Emily headed towards the nursery. She pushed open the door and found Ivy curled up on Abby's lap, the older woman reading her a story. Emily waited until Abby had finished 'Dinosaur Roar' before letting her presence known. "How's the graph coming?" Abby asked at Emily shivered at the mention of it.

"Five points in five hours. I'm going to be having nightmares about that thing for ages." Emily groaned and Abby smirked.

"Oh, Jess and Becker are happy for you to stay with them for as long as you need, but I think you should leave after a week. They get very twitchy otherwise." Abby grinned. "You can come round mine and Connor's then."

"Thanks." Emily smiled, picking Ivy up. "C'mon. Lets go and find the others." she sighed.

X

Abby, Emily and Ivy entered the main room to find Becker, Connor and Matt in a heated discussion. Jess was sat at the ADD with her head in her hands. "Jess? What's happening?" Abby asked , giving the boys a wide berth and heading to her friend.

"They're arguing." Abby shot her a 'well duh' look. "About us." Abby rolled her eyes and tuned to the boys.

"Cover your ears." she advised the girls. She brought her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle. The boys stopped, turning in her direction. "Now. Will someone _kindly _and _quietly _explain what is going on?" the boys exchanged looks, each person glancing at Emily quickly.

"Okay. I'm just going to leave and you can tell Abby." Emily sighed, motioning for Jess to follow. Once outside Emily rounded on her. "Spill."

"I don't want to get-"

"_Spill_." Emily growled and Ivy nestled into her mother's shoulder.

"Okay! Matt gazed after you when you left and Becker said it'll take more than a sorry card and box of chocolates to do so and Matt told him to keep out of his personal life and then Becker retorted that at least he could keep a wife and then Matt said that Abby and Connor could actually admit their feelings for each other and then Becker said something about him blanking Ivy and Matt said that at least he had a child and that me and Becker didn't and Becker started yelling at him but me and Becker are trying but it's just not working and Matt's being a-"

"Okay, Jess." Emily clamped her hand over the younger woman's mouth. QI get it. Take a breath next time too." Jess nodded, blushing.

"Um, you weren't meant to know the last part." she mumbled sheepishly.

"It's okay. If anyone deserves a child it's you and Becker. Pay no attention to Matt, he's just being retarded." Emily smiled at Jess slightly.

"You're only saying that because of what's happening between the two of you." Jess sighed.

"Actually, I'd say the same thing if he was still talking to me." Jess smiled thankfully and turned to head back to the ADD. Emily leant against the wall, standing Ivy against her legs and holding her hands. Abby rounded the corner moments later.

"Did Jess tell you?" Abby asked and Emily nodded.

"Did the pair tell you about Becker and Jess not having a kid?"

"Yeah. According to Becker he could see Jess tensing and grip the table hard."

"She's pretty upset about it." Emily sighed.

"When can we go home?" Ivy asked from Emily's knees.

"I don't know sweetie. You'll have to ask Aunty Jess or Uncle Becker." Ivy nodded, letting go of Emily's hand and tottering towards Jess and the ADD.

"Is it hard?" Abby asked. "To have to keep remembering to call people 'Aunty' and 'Uncle' infront of everyone?"

"No, not really. I only call people that when I'm talking to Ivy." Emily and Abby started to head towards the locker room. They hadn't got very far when the ADD started to sound. "Looks like we're not going home." Emily muttered as she and Abby took off. On the way they passed one of Becker's soldiers, Jackson, carrying Ivy back to the nursery.

"Abandon warehouse three miles away." Jess informed Matt.

"Right, lets go." he grabbed a black box and took off out of the room. Abby and Connor took off after him, Emily in tow. She glanced back in time to see Becker lay a swift kiss on Jess's lips before he took off after them.

X

Emily cheered silently as the warehouse came into view. Abby, Connor, Becker and Jess (forced to come by Lester) were crammed into the car infront, leaving her in a car with Matt and two soldiers. Talk about tension. Matt hadn't even cut the engine before Emily was out of the car. "Any one would think a stink bomb had been let off." Connor smirked.

"Shut up and get the anomaly locked." Emily growled. Connor, still smirking, scurried off.

"No sign of a creature incursion yet." Matt materialised at Emily's side. "Becker, take your men and Abby and scout the area any way. Emily, go with Connor."

"Excuse me?" Emily raised her eyebrows. "I shall _not _go with Connor."

"Thanks Em!" Connor calling in mock offence. "Don't worry Matt, she can go with Becker and Abby. I've got this under control." Emily smiled gratefully over at Connor. She took off, dragging Abby after her, before Matt had chance to blink. Emily dragged Abby round the corner before coming to a halt.

"I know your in a bad mood, but please, try no to grip my wrist so tight." Abby muttered, rubbing her sore wrist.

"Sorry." Emily muttered. Seven minutes later and the whole area had been searched with no sign of any creatures. "There's no sign of any creature's, Lester." Emily sighed into her headset. There was no reply. Emily took the ear piece out an shook it, making sure it was turned on. "Lester? Anyone?" Still nothing. "Hey, guys? I can't get through to the ARC."

"Neither can we." Connor replied, gesturing to himself and Matt.

"I'll try calling him." Jess said. A few minutes later and she returned. "The ARC's in lock down. She explained. "And Lester wants to talk to you." Jess threw her mobile to Emily who caught it.

"Hello?"

_Mrs Anderson. _

"What's the matter?"

_Would you care to explain why you took Ivy with you? Do you have any idea how much trouble I could get in? _

"I didn't take Ivy out of the ARC." Emily replied calmly. Abby and the others exchanged looks. "She must be there. Ask Jackson if he's seen her. He had her last." there was a moments pause.

_Mrs Anderson, this is Sargent Jackson. I can tell you with confidence that I handed Ivy over to the Carer on duty: Mrs Aberforth. _

"Okay, then ask her where my daughter is." Emily instructed, trying to remain calm. Again, there was another pause. This time the team shot her worried looks.

_The last time Mrs Aberforth saw your daughter was when she stepped out of the room to talk to someone. When the alarms sounded, she returned to look for your daughter but she was missing. Mrs Aberforth left the building on the assumption that someone else had collected her. _

"Did anyone?"

Jackson sounded regretful. _No ma'am. _Emily lowered the phone from her ear. She felt her grip tighten on the phone and the edges hurt her hand.

"Emily?" Abby asked, cautiously stepping forwards and prising the phone from Emily's hand.

"Ivy's missing."

**Okay, at least 11 people have got this story on their favourite/alert list so that means that at least 11 people should review, as supposed to just the same person over and over. You'll make" Ivy upset if you don't :'( plus it'll take longer (if not never) for Matt and Emily to sort things out. **


	8. Chapter 8

The team were silent for several seconds before they snapped into action. "Howard, Mosley, stay here and watch the anomaly. Call for backup if something goes wrong." Becker called, taking off towards the cars. Matt, Jess, Abby, Connor and Emily in tow. The four hoped to whatever God that ever existed that this would bring to two back together. Matt had been extremely out of character and it was starting to worry them. Matt launched himself into the drivers seat and had the car in motion before the others were six feet away. Emily threw herself, rather unladylike, into the passenger seat, Becker and Connor piling into the back, Abby and Jess in the other car. Matt had the car moving before Becker had even shut his door.

The car was complete silence until they reached the ARC where Matt snapped back into team leader mode. "Connor, Jess, get us into the ARC _now._" Matt demanded and the pair scurried off. "Becker, is there any way you can drag up CCTV footage?"

"There might me a way. If someone has an ARC laptop on them I could try getting into the the camera feed." Becker replied.

"Good. Abby, with Becker." the pair hurried off. Matt turned and started to search out Mrs Aberforth. He found her with a group of technicians. "Aberforth, a word?" the woman nodded, heading over to him and away from the group. "Who was the soldier who came to talk to you?" he demanded.

"I don't know his name." she replied steadily, brushing her hair back from her eyes. She could only be a year or so younger than Matt.

"What did he look like?"

"Tall. About the height of Captain Becker. He had very short brown hair that was receding slightly. His face was rounded and had a dimple chin. He had grey stubble too." Matt nodded.

"Thank you." he ran off in search of Becker. Before he could find him, Emily appeared infront of him.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this? You say Ivy is not your daughter and you blank her as though she is not there and yet you organise the team to help search for her. So I repeat, why?"

In truth, Matt had no answer. He knew he had been too dramatic with this. The nurse that delivered Ivy merely said that Ivy looked more like her mother than her father and Matt had misinterpreted that. He pushed past Emily, not bothering to answer her. He found Becker moments later, Emily following him. "We have a description of the soldier who spoke to Mrs Aberforth. She didn't know his name.

"Lets hear it then." Becker sighed. Abby shot Emily a confused look but Matt didn't see her reply.

" About your height with short brown hair that is receding slightly, rounded face and a dimple chin. He had grey stubble too. Any ideas." Becker looked uncomfortable and exchanged looks with Abby.

"It can't be them." Abby muttered.

"No one else fits that description." Becker replied.

"Hello? Information please?" Matt sighed irritably.

"You've read the file on the few times that Helen infiltrated the ARC using these 'Cleaner Clones'?"

"You thing it's one of them."

"It has to be, meaning we know who we're looking for."

"What is it that he would want with my daughter!" Emily exclaimed and Becker shrugged.

"I've got it!" Abby cried and the trio gathered round her. She pressed a few buttons, dragging up the nursery security. They saw Mrs Aberforth step out of the nursery, leaving a sleeping Ivy in her wake. For a moment there was nothing then a roof tile popped out of place. The roof tile was followed by a panel of ventilation and someone dropped into the room. Their face was visible and they were angled as though they wanted the camera to see them. They scooped and picked up the sleeping form of Ivy, turning to smile at the camera before disappearing back into the ventilation system. Becker and Abby would know that ridiculous hair cut and the low cut top threatening to spill her chest any day.

It was Helen.

X

"This is low, even by her standards." Lester sighed. The team were stood in his office half an hour later. Becker had every available soldier combing the ARC. They searched every room and every square inch of ventilation shaft several times over. Jess had a technician on every screen of the ADD and everyone in the ARC was armed with something from an EMD to an actually gun with the instruction 'shoot on sight' delivered from Lester. "And dangerous. She obviously want us to go after her."

"Then why are we not?" Emily asked, her Victorian way of speaking back with a vengeance.

"Because it's most likely a trap." Lester drawled.

"I do not care! I want, and will have, my daughter back!" Emily snapped and everyone was relatively shocked.

"I understand that-"

"No! No you do not!"

"Listen to me!" this time, it was Lester's turn to shout. "I have the lives of everyone else to consider not just that of your daughter! No, you will stay here and wait until I decide what shall be done." there was a moments silence before Matt spoke up.

"I'm with Emily." Everyone turned to gape at him.

"I was under the impression that you no longer cared for Mrs Anderson or your daughter." Lester drawled.

"My mistake and it is beginning to show just how badly I'm going to pay for it."

"Right, that's it! From now on there's a new rule; personal and professional lives are to be kept apart." he sighed, sinking into his chair. After a moments thought he added "Just how do you plan on getting her back?"

"Simple. We know that Helen departed via the ventilation shaft so all we're going to do is clear them out so that we can get up there. We'll split into two; Becker, Connor and Abby and Myself and Emily. Becker, Connor and Abby will go left and me and Emily right. We'll continue down the shafting until we reach splits in the pipes. When we do so someone will go down that was and the others will keep going. We'll have found other teams of five soldiers starting from consecutive points and levels on each floor. Becker will need to pick his quietest soldiers. We'll then put the remaining people in rooms, one in each, and any others with watch the ADD and patrol the corridor."

"That is the stupidest plan I've ever heard!" Lester sighed, head in his hands. "But it may just work. But I'm not getting in any ventilation shafts!"

X

Ten minutes later and they were all set up and ready to go. Becker, Abby and Connor had headed up the shaft moments ago and Matt and Emily had fallen into an uneasy silence.

Matt clambered into the ventilation shaft first, leaning down to help Emily up. They crawled for about five minuted before they came across anything, but it was enough time to make Matt think. He realised, with a painful twist of his heart, that Emily had never actually given up on him. When she'd returned to the flat to gather her stuff, she'd wanted him to stop her. When she looked at him she wanted him to apologise. When she came in with Jess and Becker in the morning, she wished it as him. He gathered all this from her eyes and the way she'd spoken to him earlier. He'd realised it all now just by being stuck in a ventilation shaft with her for five minutes in complete silence.

Why hadn't someone made him do this before?

When he can to a fork, he knew that they'd have to split. He instinctively move to the left and she immediately took the right one. As she made to crawl past him, he saw his last chance also crawling past. He reached out his hand, covering hers with it. She stopped moving, moving her gaze from their hands to his face. "Please," he whispered. "Forgive me." she studied him a moment before nodding. Matt sighed in relief and moved closer to her. The only way she could get away from him was to shuffle back.

The shaft allowed him enough room to kneel and his head just graze the top of the vent. He did this, cupping her face in his hands. The kiss was swift and gentle, yet a piercing reminder of what he'd let go. When he returned to a crawling position, he found that he'd managed to make her blush again. He smiled. "Be careful Emily." he whispered before she slid one was an he another.

**Finally! Some fluff! Not much but there is more to come. If they survive...**

**By the way, there's a poll on my profile for my story 'Primeval and You', if you haven't already, could you just choose your favourite names, thanks.**

**Oh! and don't forget to review! **


	9. Chapter 9

Matt's whole body is shaking as he moves further and further into the venting. He doesn't know if it's anger because of what he's done and because Helen's got Ivy, or fear of what could happen to Emily and his daughter. As he moved on, he wished he had some clue as to where he was. The shafting came to an abrupt halt. The shafting now went vertically In both directions. Matt braced himself to climb up, but changed his mind and headed downwards at the last second. As he shuffled down, he realised that he wasn't staying where he was meant to. Thus, if he went missing, no one would look for him.

X

As Emily made her way along the vents, she was mentally cursing herself. When Matt had asked for her forgiveness, she should've refused. When he kissed her, she should've pulled away and (in the words of Jess and Abby) told him to 'sod off'. But she didn't. Instead, she welcomed him back as though nothing had ever happened and relished in the feel of his lips against hers again. Internally she was both mad at herself and over the moon.

As Emily rounded yet another 90 decrees angle she had to back paddle quickly to prevent herself from falling down the drop. She muttered a curse she'd learnt from Abby, staring at the steep drop. There was a slight noise above her and she moved back, prepared to move quickly. Instead, Abby's butt appeared. "Abby." Emily breathed in relief.

"Em!" Abby dropped into her vent, closely followed by Becker.

"Where's Matt?" Becker asked.

"We came to a fork. He went left." Emily shrugged.

"So, you too still...?" Abby asked and Emily blushed, supplying Abby with her answer. Abby grinned, hugging Emily as best as she could in the vent.

"So, how come you came from above me if you were on the same level as me?" Emily asked.

"We came to a vertical tunnel like this but there was a panel preventing us from going up." Becker replies. "We have to keep moving. C'mon." Becker backs back out into the vent.

"Right. Follow Becker." Abby instructed. "If you slip, you'll have a soft landing." Abby laughed. "Actually, a hard one due to his muscle. Hey! Don't give me that look! Jess told me!" Abby laughs, helping Emily into the vent.

X

Three minutes later and Becker's feet touched the ground. Several minutes later and Emily was following Abby and Becker through the winding corridors of the basement. "I did not realise there was a basement down this far." Emily sighed and Becker stopped dead.

"Oh my God! Emily, you're a genius!" Becker laughed. "Jess! Get all the soldiers down to the old basement _now. _Get them in immediately and try to get hold of Matt."

"Um, Becker?" Abby asked.

"The old basement was closed off when we moved in because it wasn't needed. But the vents were kept open to keep the air circulating. Helen was using the vents because that's the only way you can get down here!" Becker turns direction. "We need to keep moving. When backup gets here, then we'll be sorted." he ducks through a low doorway as Jess reports that the others are on their way but there's still nothing from Matt.

As the trio wound their way through the corridors, the stone walls became damper and mouldier and generally more revolting. The only signs they were on the right track was the fact the floor had been dusted. The further they got from the vents, the more Emily worried about Matt and Ivy and the more she wondered about the kiss between herself and Matt. She knew he was worried about her, he was worried about everyone he'd sent into the vents. Even if he wouldn't show or tell it. But then again, he didn't exactly go up and kiss Abby or Becker. "How much further is there to go?" Emily asked in a hushed whisper.

"Not far. We're nearly-" Becker was cut of as the trio rounded the corner and entered a large room. The walls were still mildew but there were lights and metal tables. On the tables were straps and there were five tables. On table had a small, delicate person strapped to it.

"Ivy!" Emily ran forwards, dodging Becker's attempt to catch her and prevent her from giving away their position.

"Momma!" Ivy grinned, trying to move her arms to hug her mother. Emily kissed her daughter's forehead as Helen appeared as though from the shadows.

"I'm surprised. Four hours, thirty seven minutes and sixteen point two seconds. Not the speedy response I'd expected." Helen smirked. "And only the three of you? Money must be tight again." Helen shook her head, a bitchy smirk adorning her features.

"What do you want with my daughter?" Emily snapped and, rather unwillingly, drew Helen's attention to her.

"Ah. Mrs Emily Merchant Anderson. Married twice. In my eyes you've got two husbands seeing as I was speaking to your first husband a matter of thirteen hours ago. But, in response to your question, no. 'Ivy' is merely the bait in this. The real prise, is you lot." at this point, Helen raised her gun and two cleaner clones stepped towards Becker and Abby. "Tie them down." Helen motioned to the tables and Abby, Connor and Emily were herded towards the metal slabs. "Tie 'Momma' to Ivy's table. Let Ivy go running off. She wont get out of here." a clone nodded and did what he was told.

"This is a little low for you, Helen." Becker spat and Helen laughed.

"Not to mention out of character." Abby added.

"True. But none of you would be here if it wasn't for _her_." Helen motioned towards Emily and the others turned to look at her.

"Emily?" Abby frowned and Helen nodded.

"Matt was meant to save the world and learn something rather important along the way. But he was meant to throw his life away upon the belief that he'd told the right person. A person close to him. That person was to take straight to someone else and-"

"The _wrong _person, no doubt." Abby added but Helen continued as though she'd never heard her.

"_And _that would be the key to wiping humanity from the face of the Earth. But now Mrs Merchant/Anderson is here, he's to tell her and she'll tell the people who'll keep humanity alive. So all I need to do, is remove that blip which is her. And then I thought what the hell and decided to take you lot down too." Helen turned her back to the group and headed back into the shadows, returning with a remote. "This is a countdown. These walls are lined with steel so the rest of the ARC will be unfortunately okay. But this room will go up in...oh...Twenty minutes. The bent that dear little Matt is going down has a cover and yours is being covered as we speak so I guess, bye bye." Helen turned to leave but something occurred to Emily. Something she didn't want to think about.

"What about my daughter!" she called.

Helen shrugged. "A tragic loss."


	10. Chapter 10

"I. Hate. That. Bitch." Abby raised her eyebrows at Emily.

"Where'd you learn that?"

"Matt."

"Ah." Abby nodded and the group fell back into silence. "How long?" she asked Becker, the closer to the countdown clock.

"Fifteen." There was more silence that Emily decided to break.

"Did you decide on names?" Abby flicked her head towards Emily.

"If it's a boy, Sam. If it's a girl, Rachel."

_We were thinking William or Baylee._

"Jess!" Abby and Emily cry out at the same time and Becker smiles. "I thought you couldn't hear us!" Abby laughed.

_I couldn't. I've just amped the signal with Connor's help._

"Wait a moment. You are pregnant?" Emily asked and Becker's smile grew and Jess laughed.

_I felt left out._

"Congrats Jess! Is Connor there?"

_I'm here Abs. _

"Thank God." Abby smiled and Emily felt her heart tighten. There was no Matt.

_Were breaking the walls down as fast as possible. Helen must have gone through and anomaly because the alarms went off for a few seconds. _Jess said and the trio could hear her typing quickly.

"How thick are the walls?" Becker asked.

_Um, two meters._

"There's not enough time. This place blows in thirteen minutes."

_WHAT!_ the three winced as Jess and Connor yelled at the same time.

"The only way to get us out and stop the bomb," Becker continued as though he hadn't heard them. "Is to get someone in through the vents."

_But we don't know the way and we can't get hold of Matt! _Jess exclaimed, her typing increasing.

"Jess, Connor?" Emily asked. "Can one of you do me a favour please?"

_Of course Em. That reminds me, have you found Ivy yet? _Jess asked.

"That's just it. Ivy's down here somewhere too. Tell Matt...Tell him that she's with me."

_You can tell him yourself. I promise we'll get the four of you out. _Jess's voice was thick as Abby said 'Eleven minutes'

"Jess, honey, don't cry. We'll get out of this." Abby and Emily attempted to block their ears to Becker's soft side.

_Nine minutes left..._

"Ivy!" Emily called out. "Ivy! Come here!" Emily feverently hoped her daughter could hear her and that she'd come. Just so they could see each other one last time.

"How far through, Connor?" Becker asked.

_One down, one to go. Mate, the last one took eleven minutes. _

"When it gets to two minutes, if you're not in, for God's sake sound the alarm and get everyone out." Becker sighed, resting his head against the table.

_Four minutes left..._

"Connor..." Becker warned.

_We wont make it. _Connor replied quietly.

"Sound the alarm." Becker ordered and several seconds later, the lock down alarm went off.

"Jess?" Emily asked quickly. "Before you go, I need to ask you to do something for me."

_What do you want me to tell him? _Jess asked, understandingly.

"Just, tell him I love him." Abby smiled over at her friend and told Connor she loved him. Thirty seconds later and the ARC was quiet.

"The worst bit will be not having my baby." Abby said quietly. "Or to see Connor again."

"At least your child will go with you. I'll never know mine." Becker said, his eyes closed. "And never seeing Jess again goes without saying."

"At least I shall be with two of my friends." Emily tried to smile but she couldn't. "At least Matt let me know he was sorry."

"God, I'll miss Connor's stupid little laughs." Abby mused.

"Me two. And Jess laughing at them."

_Aw, good to know I'm good for something. _

"Connor!" Abby yelled. "What are you doing here?"

_If you're going down, I'm coming with you. _Abby laugh out loud, a sound of pure joy.

_Damn it, Temple! We were enjoying the Captain's soft side for once!_

"Robinson?" Becker asked incredulously.

_And Heath, Smith, Clarke and Jakeway. _

"What are you doing? I told you to leave!"

_Yeah, well, lets face it. We didn't want to. _Emily suddenly understood why Becker had made quiet Robinson his second in command.

_You're more popular than you realise. _Jess adds and Emily cringes, not wanting to know Becker's reaction.

"Jess? Get out of her!"

_I'm not loosing my husband. _

"What about-"

_We're staying together. _Jess's tone was final. _Wait a second. Hey, Stop! _

_Miss, with all due respect-_

_Be quiet Clarke! Listen!_

_Hey, that's Ivy! _Connor exclaimed. _Move outta the way kid! _A few minutes later and there was a loud 'Crash'.

_Move it! _Robinson ordered and the pounding of feet followed. A few moments later and the five soldiers, Connor, Jess and Ivy ran into the room.

Cries of "Momma!", "Abby!", "Becker!" and "Get that thing defused!" were yelled out and the team were unstrapped and embraced.

"Anything?" Emily asked and Jess shook her head.

There was a shrill ringing as the countdown hit zero, but it was swiftly cut off. "Bloody hell." Robinson muttered. "Close enough for you Heath?"

"Sorry." Heath gave the others a lopsided grin. "Shall we go?" he asked and everyone turned to look at Becker who nodded. The team filed out of the room, Becker and Jess first, hand in hand. Abby and Connor followed, Connor's arm around Abby's waist, something no one had seen before. Even with Abby being pregnant and the pair being married. Emily followed with Ivy on her hip and Heath, Clarke, Smith, Jakeway and Robinson brought up the rear. The group had reached the open vent before they heard it. It was a clanging and a muffled yelp and the vent started to shake.

"Get back!" Becker ordered and the team flattened themselves against the wall, Becker infront of Jess and Emily infront of Ivy. The clanging got louder until something, or rather someone, fell out of the opening. It was a woman. Worse. It was _Helen. _

No one needed to say anything, the soldiers just lunged. Someone, Smith admitted to it later, shot her with an EMD by 'accident' as the cuffed her and hauled her to her feet. "I'm not carrying her." Robinson said.

"Who said anything about 'Carrying'?" Becker asked and Robinson grinned.

"Excellent." the second in command grinned, mimicking Mr Burns from the Simpsons perfectly. The clanging in the pipe picked up again and everyone jumped back to their previous positions against the wall.

"Is she dead?" Matt's head popped from the shaft. Emily's eyes widened. "No? Damn." Matt's head disappeared into the shaft and moments later he dropped to the floor, landing hard on his feet. Emily launched herself at him just as he straightened up and he had to prise his arms out from under her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and burying his face in his hair. "I'd have been quicker, but I ran into that thing." he nodded his head towards Helen and the others smile.

"You could hear us?" Jess frowns.

"Yeah. Although it turns out you couldn't hear me. I was screaming bloody murder at you." he grinned and the others actually laughed. "I was so worried. I'm sorry." he whispered into Emily hair. She tilted her head to say something but Matt took this as an opportunity to kiss her. When Emily made no indication to pull away, Matt deepened the kiss. When they finally parted for air, Matt kissed her forehead before leaning his forehead against Emily's. "I'm sorry." he whispered again and Emily smiled.

"I know." Matt looked over his wife's shoulder and met Ivy's eyes. He let go of Emily rather reluctantly and dropped into a crouch, opening his arms. Ivy barrelled into him with almost as much force as Emily had. Matt smiled into his daughter's shoulder and she clung tightly to him.

"By the way, congratulations." he smiled up at Jess and Becker who smiled back. When Mat straightened up again, he placed Ivy on his hip and took Emily's hand with his spare one and the team started walking again.

"Oh, thank God for that." Lester muttered as the team entered the hub although no one was sure if he said that because they were dragging, literally, Helen behind them, because they were all alive or that the tension between Matt and Emily had obviously been sorted. "No one will see me if I shoot her, right?" Becker smirked and the others smiled. "I'll clear it with the Minister but in the meantime, I want her wrists and ankles cuffed and her put into an empty cell in the menagerie. Preferably move the mammoth and donate it's cell to her. Just don't clean it."

"Smelly witch!" Ivy giggled and Lester actually smiled.

"Yes. Smelly witch. I wont say what should be said. Oh, and keep guards on her until we've decided what to do with her." Becker nodded and motioned for the other soldiers to do as Lester said. Once Jess had returned to the ADD and Lester to his office, Becker brought a suggestion up.

"Why don't me and Jess look after Ivy tonight. That'll be okay, won't it Jess?" Jess smiled and nodded over at them. "I'm sure you can hold out for one night." no one missed the dark shade of red her cheeks turned as she quickly turned away.

"If you're sure..." Emily began uncertainly.

"Of course we are!" Jess called, not turning around.

"There we go. Would you like that, Ivy?" Emily asked and Ivy nodded vigorously.

"But you and Daddy promise me something." Ivy said, clinging to Matt's shirt.

"What would that be?"

"No more fighting." Emily and Matt laughed and Matt kissed the top of Ivy's head.

"Of course not." he chuckled.

**This is my favourite chapter so far :)**


	11. Chapter 11

"Anyone one home?" Matt and Emily were alerted to the flat door opening. "Or should I ask if you're decent?" Becker called up the stairs.

"Yes to the first and if it keeps you down there, then no!" Matt called back, making Emily laugh. She stuck her head over the stair well, smiling down at the three at the bottom.

"Come up." she unlocked the child gate at the top of the stairs, allowing Becker, Jess and Ivy up the stairs. Matt instantly relieved Ivy from Jess, not giving the toddler time to even greet her other parent.

"I'm getting another cousin." the toddler grinned, matter-of-factly.

"Aren't you lucky." Emily smiled, using the little slang she knew. "A drink?"

"No, we're just leaving." Jess shook her head. "We wouldn't want to get in the way of you three." Jess smiled, taking Becker's hand. "We'll see you tomorrow!" Jess called, pulling Becker down the stairs.

"What do you want to do then?" Matt asked, bouncing the toddler on his hip.

"Dinosaurs!" Ivy yelled.

"Not today."

"Dinosaurs!"

"There aren't any." Matt said again.

"Dinosaurs!" This time Ivy looked more determined than a toddler should.

"What about the Natural History Museum?" Emily suggested. "They have Dinosaurs."

X

Half an hour later and the family of three was walking through the dinosaur exhibit of the Natural History Museum. "Veliceraptor!" Ivy grinned.

"Velociraptor." Matt corrected her.

"Big claws!" Ivy almost screamed, pointing at the dinosaur's curved claw.

"Hush!" Emily smiled, taking her daughters hand. "You must be quiet or we will need to leave." Ivy shrugged off her mother's warning, pulling her towards the next animal.

Emily stood back from Ivy, keeping her eye on her at all time. "Think she'll follow in our footsteps?" Matt asked, coming to stand by Emily.

"Running away from her home era and falling in love with a man from the future? Or being sent to the past in attempt to save the world and falling in love with someone from hundreds of years before?" Emily asked, sorting Matt's jacket collar out.

"Funny." Matt rolled his eyes but couldn't help a small smile. "You know what I mean."

"I know, and I hope you're wrong." Matt frowned and she continued. "Would you like waking up every morning and wondering if your going to get that call explaining that your daughter is either dead, missing or seriously injured?"

"Your point taken, but I have a feeling she will." Matt smiled, kissing Emily's nose.

"About what I said a moment ago. You're still trying to figure out what goes wrong?"

Matt nodded. "I've never stopped, just toned it down because of Ivy. I have six months left until my deadline. I should've been done last year."

"I'm not sorry." Emily smiled and Matt laughed.

"Maybe we should go and find Ivy, preferably before she breaks something." the headed off through the exhibit, finding Ivy clinging to the railings of a T-Rex exhibit. On the other size of the glass was a supposed life sized model that moved and roared at the visitors. Ivy squealed in delight.

"I'm going to be a dinosaur hunter like you, momma!" Ivy said loudly as Emily picked her up.

"Shh! I don't hunt them, I look after them. And keep that to yourself, no one else knows."

"Oopsy." Ivy giggled. "Momma?" Ivy asked, her gaze settling on something over her mothers shoulder. "Why is work here?" Emily frowned, turning to scan the show room. She cursed under her breath as she caught sight of an anomaly. It was obscured from view but Emily could see it's reflection clearly.

"Matt!" she hissed, beckoning her husband over. "Over there." she nodded her head towards the anomaly and Matt uttered the same curse as Emily.

"Get the ARC. I'll start getting people out." Matt tossed Emily his mobile, hurrying down the ramp. Emily stared down at the devise in her hands blankly for a moment, before something twigged.

"Right. When daddy wants the ARC he holds '2'. yes?" Ivy nodded and Emily did so, sighing h=in relief as Jess answered.

_I thought you had the day off?_ She accused.

"Jess, this is Emily. There's an anomaly at the Natural History Museum."

_Are you sure? I'm not registering anything._

"I am sure. Matt is getting people out now."

_Okay, can you see a security camera that would have a clear view of the anomaly? _

"Yes, it has the number '43' underneath it."

_Brilliant. Thanks Em. I'll dispatch the team now. _Jess rang of and Emily jumped as the fake dinosaur behind her let out a roar. She shot it a dirty look until she realised how silly she must look.

"Come on, Ivy. Shall we go and wait for the others?" she didn't wait for her daughter's reply, just headed off towards the entrance.

A few minutes later and she was heading back towards the anomaly, the team in tow and Ivy holding her hand. "See? There is the anomaly." Abby frowned as Emily gestured towards the glittering ball of light.

"She's right, Jess. There's an anomaly here."

_I'm still not picking it up. _Jess muttered in frustration. _I can see it though! _

"Lets just get it locked." Becker sighed, motioning for Connor to lock it. Connor did so but the anomaly unlocked again. "Connor." Becker warned.

"It won't lock!" Connor groaned. "There must be a problem with the locking mechanism."

"Can you fix it?" Matt asked, rejoining the group. There's a screeching and everyone freezes. The anomaly shimmers as a huge bird runs through. "Get back!" Matt yelled, shoving Emily and Ivy behind him. The team began to fire at the bird, attempting to scare it back through. Once it's gone, everyone relaxes. "We need to get that thing locked Connor."

"I'm _trying _Matt!" Connor exclaims. "But it's not-" there's a screeching again and Connor stopped mid-sentence. "How on Earth?"

"Becker, with me. The rest of you, stay down here." Matt ordered and Emily watched as he and Becker headed towards the stairs.

It wasn't long before Becker reported back. _Jess! We've got an incursion and two anomalies! _

_I'm only registering the first anomaly. Are you sure?_

There was a few moments of silence and then Becker's strained voice answered her. _Yes, Jess. Pretty sure. _The museum fell silence and Emily and Abby exchanged looks.

"What's happening up there?" Abby asked and Matt replied with a 'it's gone.'

"Connor? What's going on?" Matt asked as one of the soldiers called over to Becker.

"Sir! I can't get a response out of Clarke." Becker nodded before jumping up the stairs as Connor replied to Matt.

"This is like nothing we've ever dealt with before." Emily glanced over at Matt and his expression's hardened.

"The anomaly me and Becker found didn't look normal. It was paler. Not as strong."

"That can't have been open long because Jess scanned the place, yeah?" Connor asked and Abby nodded.

"Connor, is there anything to indicate that someone might have manipulated this anomaly? Like interfered with it?" Matt asked and Emily was certain he'd snapped back into 'trying to save the world' mode.

"Interfering? How?" Connor asked but before Matt can reply there was yet _more _bird noises and the team span to search the showroom.

"Not again!" Abby moaned as another bird appeared, screeching at at the team before moving towards the anomaly. "Don't shoot. I think it wants to go through." Once the bird disappeared everyone relaxed "That was the same bird!" Abby pointed out a few moments later.

"Really?" Connor frowned at her.

"Yeah." Abby gestured to the side of her left eye. "Scar."

"I do not care if it is the same on an entirely different bird." Emily muttered. "I am getting Ivy out of here. It is not safe for her." Matt nodded in agreement.

"I'll take you out of here." he takes Emily's arm, steering her towards the exit.

"It's coming back through!" Becker yelled and Matt stopped walking, raising his EMD. He fired as something fell through the rip in time. It was a person in a ragged white shirt with a red-checked pattern over it. Abby and Connor dropped to the ground t roll the man over, exposing his face. They grinned. They propped that man up against a glass case, still smiling.

"Danny, it's Abby. Can you hear me?" Emily remembered the man instantly. Becker pulled Danny's arm up as Abby spoke to him. "C'mon. You're back."

"I can't believe you shot him." Abby smirked at Matt.

"What was he doing through there?" Connor muttered.

"Danny?" Abby asked again and Becker dropped the other man's wrist.

"Come on, Quinn. Get up. Stop faking."

"Becker." Danny murmured and everyone who knew the man stepped forwards as Danny cracked his eyes open. "Becker? Wow, Becker. You're much cutter than I remember." he said, facing Abby. Becker, Connor and Abby laughed in relief. Emily moved to stand by Matt as Danny turned to face them.

"What was that?" Danny asked shakily.

"Well, Matt shot you." Connor grinned. "You remember the EMDs?" Danny nodded.

"What were you doing through there?" Matt nodded towards the anomaly and Danny smiled back.

"I went in after Patrick. What happened to him?" Danny glanced at Emily.

"He'd locked up in a prison cell in Victorian times." Abby replied. Danny grimaced but quickly shrugged it off.

"We still have an anomaly to deal with." Connor pointed out.

"He's right. Abby, get Danny back to the ARC. Make sure he stays there too." Matt pointed out. "And take Ivy with you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, this chapter contains spoilers for series 5 episode 1.**

"How did you manage to loose Ethan?" Emily asked, once they were on the road.

"He clubbed me and when I woke up he'd gone." Danny shrugged, turning his attention on Ivy. "She's adorable."

"Thank you." Ivy giggled.

"And can already talk." Danny grinned. "You jealous Abby?"

"Nope. Got my own on the way." Abby grinned back. "So's Jess."

"Congrats! Is there something in the water though?" Danny frowned. "Or rather, something in the males?"

"Danny!" Abby grinned. "You're in the presence of a toddler!"

"Aw, she doesn't know what I mean, do you?" Danny asked Ivy, who had her thumb in her mouth and was gazing out the window. On Emily's instructions, Matt gently prised the toddlers thumb out of her mouth. The remainder of the journey back was spent in silence once Abby had debriefed Danny on the Burton situation. When they arrived at the ARC, none of them were surprised to see Lester waiting for them.

"If you keep wandering off," he drawled. "then I'm going to have to invest in some child reigns. Ivy's easier to track than you."

"It's nice to see you too guv." Danny grinned, following Lester into the ARC. "What's happened since I left?"

"Diictodons in a shopping centre, Burton turning Anderson against his family, oh, and Helen turned up."

"Helen? I thought she was dead!" Danny protested, the frown line on his forehead increasing.

"A different end of the time line perhaps." Lester shrugged. "You lost Ethan?"

"Patrick clubbed me and got away. I'll find him though." Danny corrected Lester who rolled his eyes when he thought no one was looking. "Go and find Miss Parker and I'm sure she'll fill you in on the details. You can take Miss Anderson with you. Are you needed back at the anomaly?" Lester turned to Emily who nodded. "Very well. Get Abby to take you back. And stay out of trouble!" he added as the girls headed back towards the garage.

"He really is untrusting." Emily mused, climbing back into the vehicle.

"You should see him when a new member of staff starts. What with Leek, Christine Johnson, Helen Cutter and Philip Burton, he's going to be interrogating them until they plead for mercy!"

X

"You left Ivy with Danny?" the words seemed to amuse Connor.

"Why?" Emily asked, frowning.

"Well..." Connor trailed off as Abby his his arm.

"Ignore him." she mouthed. " wonder what will happen now then. We've got two team leaders, two clowns and _three _blokes set on ordering us about."

"Three?" this time it was Connor's turn to look confused.

"You don't count." Abby smiled, kissing Connor's cheek. "What happens then?"

"I think Danny will want to stand back for a little while." Becker suggested. "Or he'll want to throw himself back into the team." whilst the three were arguing about Danny, Emily pulled Matt aside.

"When do you think this apocalypse will happen?" Emily whispered quietly to Matt.

"I don't know, but I need to get back on track quickly. I'm apologising in advance for hurting you."

"Again. Apologising for hurting me _again_." Matt smiled at Emily practically repeating his words.

"Yeah. Again." Matt took Emily's hand as the trio opposite them finished their heated discussion. "I think we can leave this anomaly open." Matt decided, returning to face the group.

_Good thing too. _Jess' voice rippled down their coms. _We have an incursion but no sign of an anomaly. _

"Send us the coordinates Jess." Becker ordered, already moving from the museum. Connor, Abby, Matt and Emily followed, the guards remaining.

_Sending them now. And hurry. There's been a fatality. _

X

"This is one _big _hole." Connor muttered, staring at the hole in the pavement infront of him. Matt nodded in agreement before sliding down the ladder into the pit, Becker and Abby following. "I'll stay up here!" Connor called down to the others, clamping his mouth shut as Matt gestured for him to be quiet.

"Something's in here." Matt whispered. "Nobody make a sound." the trio creeped forwards, staying in the eyesight of Connor and Emily and in the light. There was a rumbling from infront of Matt and something moved in the shadows. Matt didn't have time to get out a warning as a giant bug charged at him. "Get back!" Matt ordered as a hail of EMD pulses rained down on the creature. It didn't seem phased, but the blasts appeared to make it uncomfortable as it retreated back into the tunnel. "Get up!" Matt ordered and they scrambled up the ladder. Once they were up they doubled over, panting at their sudden exercise. "We're going to need proper guns."

**Sorry for the update lag but I got disheartened because only two people reviewed the last chapter. Am I loosing my touch or something?**


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